Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

Descending upon Doirtullu, I engaged the sensor-array to help guide us in as the surface was obscured by a thick layer of dust and pollution. Clinging to their harnesses for dear life, as visibility dropped to five feet upon entering the layer, the brother sister duo hesitantly asked if we were going to make. Looking back at them and the rest of the refugees, Samus nodded her head with a big smile.

“Victor is one of the best pilots in the history of the Bounty Hunter Association. There is nothing to be worried about.”, Samus assured them, ‘It pains me to say it, but he is an even better pilot than me. Eventually I will have to ask him who his teacher was because this cannot stand.’

“Is that true, Mister Victor?”, the young boy inquired with amazement, “That is so cool!”

“Haha, yes, it is true. I flawlessly passed the trial exam, so they made me Platinum Rank when I signed up.”, I chuckled, much to the annoyance of my comrades and wives.

“Rub it in why don’t you…”, Samus grumbled, with a smirk, “Most people are not born with unfathomable talent like you. We have to bust our ass and struggle hard to achieve that ranking.”

“Some of us have yet to earn it too…”, Deirdre complained, lightly kicking the back of my seat, “You need to make some time to give us a few lessons. When we return home, I want to get back out there and hunt more pirates!”

Agreeing to her request, I promised to make time after my duel with Liam to give everyone a few lessons. Satisfied with my reply, Deirdre began asking Samus about her rise to Platinum Rank hoping to glean a few tricks to help her ascension. Reminiscing about her early days in the association, a harrowing pattern of reckless abandonment became blaringly apparent. Believing that she had to put in two to three times the effort to keep up with her male colleagues, Samus accepted the most dangerous jobs solo hoping to make a name for herself amongst her peers.

Halfheartedly listening to her retelling, the view outside slowly began to change. Catching glimpse of flickering lights and rundown structures, when we finally broke through their opaque layer, I had to do a double take as it looked like we were on Vigilus. Barely able to make out any roadways, the ground was covered in shanty shacks and mountains of trash.

“All these poor people…”, Olivia said, noticing hundreds of funeral pyres off in the distance, “Why is the Algrand Empire dragging their feet on letting people in?”

“They are trying to prevent a repeat of what happened to the Republic when they opened their borders to the refugees from the three collapsed nations. Since they did not have time to vet anyone as they were letting them in, criminal activity across the nation skyrocketed by over five hundred percent.”, Samus said, repeating what she had heard through the grapevine, “Larger organizations continue to operate without much of a change, but the smaller groups have been an ever-increasing headache. Their bloody struggles over resources and territory are leaving millions of people dead every day across the Republic.”

“How about we switch to a more lighthearted subject?”, I recommended, noticing the gloomy expressions creeping onto the refugees’ faces, ‘I guarantee some of them are revaluating if their loved ones are worth the peace and stability they have enjoyed with us.’

Noticing the change in their demeanor as well, the women attempted to restart the prior conversation but end up quickly falling silent.

---Twenty Minutes Later---

Waiting for the ground team to arrive before disembarking, the moment I opened the rear doors, people began rushing outside to find their family and friends. Following them to distribute the funds I pilfered at Fort Paragon, every refugee present deeply bowed their heads to me. Trembling with joy and relief, they expressed their immense happiness to the best of their ability. Stepping to the front of the group, the parents of the two children approached me clutching their children.

“Words cannot begin to describe how grateful we are to all of you for saving our children. When the Orions took them from us… we… we honestly assumed they were gone forever.”, the father said, choking on his words, “As a father… it… it pains me that I was unable to protect my family. I… I know that there was nothing I could do, but… I… I…”

“As you said, there is nothing you could have done to save them. Do not let the pain of what happen continue to haunt you for the rest of your days. Your family is whole again, that is the only thing that matters.”, I stated, placing a hand on his shoulder, “You have raised two wonderful children, especially the brave young man here. In the face of danger, he stood fast and protected his sister to the best of his ability.”

“Is that so?”, his mother responded, holding her son tighter.

Sheepishly nodding his head, the young boy admitted he was only did what his parents had told him to do. Overcome by emotion, they pulled their children into a hug and began violently sobbing. Giving them a few minutes to let it all out, I handed each family unit a pre-loaded card worth twenty million credits each.

“Consider this as compensations from the Orions for splitting everyone up.”, I stated, forcing the cards into their hands, “Use the money to carve out a life here in the Republic, or anywhere else you want to go. It is yours to do with as you see fit.”

Nervously tucking the cards into their pockets, the refugees bow their heads one last time to thank me for the gift. Watching the crowd slowly begin to dissipate, as people wandered off to begin planning their next steps, eventually only the two children and their parents remained. Asking their parents to let them down, the two children ran up to us and began giving everyone a hug.

“Thank you for clothing and feeding us.”, the boy said, squeezing Mylene tightly.

“The food was super duper yummy!!”, the girl giggled, wrapping her little arms around Serana’s neck.

Once they were done saying goodbye, the family of four returned to the city and disappeared from our sight. Happy that we were able to reunite everyone, Angelica, Clarice, Deirdre, and Olivia turned to me with a longing expression. Having served as the children’s primary caregivers during our time with them, they wanted to make it abundantly clear they wanted their own now. Acknowledging their heartfelt desire, I assured them I had no qualms with fulfilling that request with a flirtatious smile.

“While those two were adorable, our children will be even more so.”, I chuckled, looking at Lucoa and Mylene, “Right ladies?”

“Well of course, they will be our children after all!”, Deirdre interjected, her posh laughter echoing through the vicinity, “That said though, my children will be the cutest of all your offspring. Out of everyone in the harem, I am the most attractive after all.”

“Victor, I think the air is messing with her head. Do you need me to cut her head open, and do a thorough examination?”, Serana questioned, grinning playfully as she said it.

“I am sorry to tell you this, Serana, but Deirdre has been like this since the day she was born. No amount of magic or surgery is going to fix her head.”, Clarice chimed in, playing along with her, “She is unable to see the truth right before her eyes as her head is always in the clouds. We have tried to bring her back to reality, but she refuses to see the facts for what they are. Deirdre is just a plain jane compared to the rest of us.”

Turning to them with her mouth agape, the former countess could not believe what she was hearing. Unable to ascertain if they were joking or being serious, she began fuming with anger.

“I was just joking around, I did not actually mean it!”, Deirdre huffed, crossing her arms in annoyance, “No need to get your panties in a bunch.”

“Calm yourself, Deirdre. They are just having some fun with you at your expense.”, Mylene giggled, latching onto my right arm, “Anyways, I am the clear victor in the genetics department here. I get mistaken for a younger woman all the time, and I am almost forty.”

“Hehe, if that is all it takes, then I have all of you beaten.”, Lucoa stated, resting her hands on her chest, “Actually, I have you beaten in two ways.”

“Size is not always better than quality!”, Mylene refuted, having forgotten Lucoa was significantly older than her.

“Actually, if we are talking about age strictly, I am the oldest one here.”, Serana spoke, but no one besides me heard her.

Watching the sparks fly between Lucoa and Mylene, the two press their cleavage together completely forgetting where we were right now. Looking at the two of them while maintaining a stoneface expression, I took a second to admire the view. Deciding to add a bit more fuel to this fire, just because she could, Samus stepped up grinning like a fiend.

“Since I was an unofficial wife for a bit, I feel it is only right that I toss my hat in the ring.”, Samus stated, trying hard not to break out into laughter, “I- “

“Oh no you don’t, only his real wives get to participate in this debate. We are the ones that have ACTUALLY slept with him, you were just a convenient cover.”, Mylene snapped, shutting her down immediately.

“Wait, that would mean that Ionica and I are in the same boat as them…”, Amallyn pointed out.

“Well you can remedy that anytime you want.”, Lucoa reminded them.

Upon hearing that, steam began to erupt from Amallyn and Ionica’s ears. While we were officially a couple, they were still hesitant about crossing that line which I was fine with. I was in no rush to push them into something they were not yet ready for, especially when my wives and our new traveling companions were so eager to take care of my needs.

“I hate to interrupt but now is not the best time to discuss your private lives.”, Bo-Katan remarked, with an embarrassed expression, “There are some people here to speak with us.”

Turning our heads to look in her direction, a group of five exhausted officials were standing there silently with flushed expressions. Immediately stopping what they were doing, Lucoa and Mylene rushed behind me to vent their embarrassment. Apologizing to the men for making them sit through that, they assured us it was fine.

“It is rare to see a nobleman’s harem get along so well. Most are a bunch of cutthroats looking to secure the top spot in the group.”, a feeble old man stated, stepping forward, “Lord Stark, I wanted to personally come here to welcome you to Doirtullu. My name is Vol Nirchel of House Nirchel. My family has overseen this world for the past seven hundred years or so.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Lord Nirchel?”, I inquired, stealthily using magic to sneak a peek at his health status, ‘It would appear he is has a minor case of starvation. Unlike many planetary governors I have come across, he is not living the high life while his people suffer.’

“Forgive my rudeness but is there any way you would be willing to provide us with food and medical supplies?”, Nirchel questioned, bowing his head before me, “As your wife has already told you, it has been four months since our last resupply and our population has exploded since then. If supplies do not reach us soon, in two weeks what little we have left will completely run out.”

If this were the Imperium of Man I would render assistance without a second thought, but this was the Galactic Republic. Even though I was a Jedi Sage, that information was not known publicly so I could not leverage it here. As far as anyone knew, I was a foreign noblemen from the Imperium. Offering aid to a Republic World could potentially be seen as me trying to insight a civil war by more extremist Senators. Wanting to ensure my bases were covered before committing to anything, I looked at Bo-Katan for her input.

“If you are able and willing to help, Padme and Satina have already secured approval from the Senate for you to do so.”, Bo-Katan stated, with an exhausted look, “The Senate will hold an emergency meeting to discuss potential options to help alleviate the issues plaguing the border region.”

“I take it there is more to the story?”, I inquired.

“Right now, the most popular idea is to ask the Algrand Empire for military assistance. Since we are stretched thin, this option makes the most sense and should help strengthen relations between our countries. If it does pass, since I am Satina’s sister, the Senate intends to name me as a temporary ambassador to secure a deal for nation.”, Bo-Katan elaborated, dread clearly painted on her face, ‘Damn you Satina, you know I have never been one for politics! Why would you make such a stupid suggestion? Ahsoka has undergone the necessary diplomatic training, she could have been the fucking ambassador. Now I am saddled with this heavy burden, and it is stressing me out.’

Assuring her I would do my utmost to assist her, I turned to the former duke and gave him my answer.

“We can provide you with six months of supplies, but that it all I can do.”, I replied, ‘I could offer them substantially more, but that would make them a significant target for pirates and raiders. It is better to get them by for now and convince Liam to eliminate the threats over here. Since he considers criminals like them piggybanks, it should be relatively easy to convince him to help.’

“Six months!?”, Nichel gasped, falling to his knees in shock, “Lord Stark, thank you for your generous assistance. I assure you; we will ensure the supplies are shared equally with everyone.”

“Where would you like us to drop off the supplies?”, I asked, wanting to offload the supplies immediately.

“Please follow me, we will take you to one of our warehouses.”, Nichel said, motioning for everyone to follow.

Quickly rising to his feet, Nichel and his subordinates headed away from the port toward one of the adjacent roadways. Following close behind them, I leaned over and Bo-Katan what was going on here. Last I was told, we had dropped the couple’s façade yet here she was using it yet again.

“Is this your way of stealthily telling me what you want?”, I inquired with a toothy smile, “You could have just told me directly. No need to beat around the bush.”

“It was convenient and quick, bite me.”, Bo-Katan retorted, looking away from me.

“I do not mind, if that is what you want.”, I said, putting the screws to her.

“That… I… shut up!”, Bo-Katan huffed, knowing what I was insinuating, ‘At least take me on a proper date first… jerk…’

Chuckling to myself, we continued down the packed street until we eventually came across a massive, barren warehouse. Asking me to have the supplies delivered here, Nichel started to ask when the supplies would begin arriving when I retrieved the supplies from within my inventory. Nearly falling over in shock as hundreds of thousands of large shipping containers appeared out of thin air, he hesitantly looked at me for a moment before investigating the containers for himself. Showing them how to properly open them, as they could be repurposed as shelters after they were emptied, the men looked upon the supplies with joy and relief.

“Thank you again for this generous donation, Lord Stark. We will begin inventorying the supplies immediate and route them to where they are needed most.”, Nichel remarked, shaking my hand vigorously.

“We are happy to have been of assistance to the refugees and your people.”, I responded, turning to leave, “Please rest assured we will do our utmost to secure aid from the Algrand Empire.”

“All of us will pray they agree to help.”, Nichel stated, “Safe travels, Lord Stark!”

Taking the shuttle pod back up to the New Genesis, a notification popped up on my HUD as we pulled into the hanger. Receiving the approval we had been waiting for from the Empire, as soon as I was back on the bridge, I began charting our course to their capital world.